The Baton Rouge International Open was one of three IBJJF tournaments this past weekend. Much like the other events, several athletes used the competition as a way to get a few more matches in prior to competing at the World Championships. 2016 European Champion Pedro Moura was one of those athletes. We caught up with Pedro to hear his thoughts on the Baton Rouge Open and his excitement about the upcoming World Championships.

"I had a total of four fights to become champion in my weight class and in the absolute. It was an excellent campaign to impose my game. I finished all the fights by submission without conceding a single point! I haven’t competed in an IBJJF Grand Slam event since 2016, the same year I was European Adult Black Belt Ultra-Heavy Champion. Baton Rouge was the last chance for me to gain enough ranking points for the World Championships. I’m very excited to compete on the big stage again! My performance in Baton Rouge showed me which parts of my game still need improvement. Despite having finished all the fights by submission, there is still room to get even better for the World Championships!”

Another athlete getting ready for Worlds who competed in Louisiana was Roiter Lima. Roiter is a Worlds No-Gi and Pans No-Gi silver medalist and a Pans bronze medalist. He’ll be competing as a rooster weight at the Worlds in a division that has been growing stronger with each passing year.

“During the Baton Rouge tournament I felt great! I was able to get some nice fights in before Worlds. Throughout my fights I had control and started putting my plan for Worlds into action. The preparation for Worlds has been incredible. I always train hard no matter the tournament but Worlds is special because it’s one of the most important tournaments of the year. The weight cut for rooster is right on track and the physical part is going great with my strength and conditioning coach Bruno Victor “Forminha”. He does an incredible job combining my trainings with cutting weight. The takeaway from all of this is that I’m feeling good, blessed to fight with the best athletes, and ready to show all this hard work!”

The black female open class champion in the gi was Yasmim Coutinho Pinheiro of PSLPB Cicero Costha USA. She won two fights in a four person bracket, getting the submission in the final. Austin Oranday was another competitor who had a great showing. He won middleweight gold with a 6-0 semifinal win and a Caio Terra straight ankle lock in the final.

2023 Baton Rouge Open team results:

1. CheckMat

2. Team Jucao

3. TRUJITSU/Excelsior

2023 Baton Rouge Open No-Gi team results:

1. Team Jucao

2. CheckMat

3. Gracie Barra